whitewolffandomcom-20200213-history
Inheritance (BTP)
The Inheritance of the Begotten is the ultimate fulfillment of their Legend, for good or ill. While some Beasts come to their Inheritance by accident, others actively pursue one of them. The Unfettered Inheritance A Beast may, by accident or design, undergo a process called the Retreat in which the human body dies but leaves the Horror free to roam the Primordial Dream. The Horror, unmoored from its human concerns, becomes an ephemeral being. It may or may not retain any of the intelligence of its human part. The Retreat usually occurs when the Beast has fed up to 10 Satiety, putting the Horror to sleep. In this state, the Beast may then choose suicide to unfetter the Horror, or may simply run afoul of a Hero or other danger without the power of the Horror for protection.BTP: Beast: The Primordial Rulebook, p. 234-5 The Rampant Inheritance A Beast may also physically merge with their Horror, bringing its monstrous traits into the waking world. The Merger results from the collapse of the Beast's Lair, which may be deliberate or the result of enemy action. As the Horror squeezes into a human body, the Beast mutates and loses most, if not all, human intelligence. It becomes a dreadfully powerful monster that exists only to feed. BTP: Beast: The Primordial Rulebook, p. 238-9 The Divergence For a Beast who finds coexistence with a Horror too much of a burden, the Divergence allows the two a greater measure of independence from each other. The starving Horror must be kept in the Lair until, in desperation, it pulls itself free of the Beast and attempts to consume it. The Beast must then attempt to devour the Horror right back. Unsuccessful attempts at Divergence usually end in death; if successful, the Beast and the Horror both become half-flesh, half-Dream beings, and the Beast is no longer burdened with the Horror's hunger. They are still bound together by their Lair and a shared Satiety pool. Diverged Beasts may retain use of a single Atavism, if exceptionally lucky, but still can use Nightmares; vice versa, the Horror may retain a single Nightmare but can still use the full range of Atavisms, and can enter the physical world either in its true form or disguised as the Beast. The Beast can also return to the Lair, though it may no longer be welcome. , pp. 158-160 The Erasure Even more violent than the Divergence, when the presence of the Horror is simply intolerable, a Beast may attempt to destroy it and replace it with a new, mortal soul. Acquiring such a soul is a tall order in and of itself; the Beast must then find a way to slay the Horror without dying himself. This may require the assistance of a Hero or non-Beast kin. If the Erasure is successful, the Beast can still use Nightmares and its Birthright so long as it has Satiety in its pool. However, rather than feeding the Horror, the Erased must consume the flesh of other Beasts in order to restore Satiety. , pp. 160-161 The Incarnate Inheritance The most complex and powerful Inheritance cannot happen by accident; a Beast must choose to pursue it, and typically only a Beast with a large Lair can even try. Lesser Beasts may try to achieve the Incarnate Inheritance early by attuning themselves to the Primordial Dream, exploring the key concepts of Family, Hunger, Nightmares and Legends. For each such "path" the Beast attunes to, the minimum Lair for attempting this Inheritance drops by one. , pp. 162-164 Once reaching the necessary Lair size, there are three ways to go about Incarnation: * Subvert a Hero, by utterly destroying one before they have any chance to strike back. * Control the local Hive by becoming the Apex of the area and visiting your Hunger on other Beasts. * Spawn a legend through public, grandiose demonstrations of power. None of these methods are without risk, but the Beast Incarnate gains tremendous power over both the Primordial Dream and the waking world. Her Legend becomes a Myth: Heroes cannot track her or place Anathemas, she can enter the Primordial Dream at will or shape-shift into the form of her Horror, and her Hunger is never out of control. Unlike the other two forms of Inheritance, Incarnation is also reversible: if the Beast Incarnate's Myth is destabilized, he may lose his Incarnate status and the additional powers it grants, reverting back to a normal (but very powerful) Beast.BTP: Beast: The Primordial Rulebook, p. 242-4. The Beast Inverted The most violent of all Inheritances, the Inversion sees a Beast so fully reject the Dark Mother that they set out, not just to destroy their own Horror, but all of Her Children. A would-be Inverted travels the Bright Dream, and with patient study can craft an Anathema weapon with which to brutalize (but not kill) their Horror. In doing so, they gain the power to place Anathema, as Heroes do, and typically proceed to go on a violent spree against their Family. Such a spree is inevitably short-lived, as the Inverted Beast can no longer regain Satiety, and any Beast who manages to survive their attacks can easily track them down and retaliate. , pp. 161-162 References Category:Beast: The Primordial glossary